Hello in the Snow!

Hello everyone! It's been quite the intense year, to say the least. As you may have noticed, during this pandemic I haven't been blogging much... my attention span is rather short these days, and a lot of my writing brain has been dedicated to activism of one sort or another. These days I'm most active on Twitter. Please feel free to follow me there for more consistent and timely content! I'll be back from my semi-hiatus and posting more writing-related Twitter content soon. My Twitter handle is: @sarahgtuttle

On the writing end, I've been diving into craft study and working slowly on several book projects that I'm excited about. Some are projects I've had on the back burner for a long time, and others are projects that are new, or ones just for me. I think I currently have 7 works in progress! I'm finding that having writing projects just for me (no deadlines! no expectations! no need to delete gratuitous exclamation points!) has been essential to keeping me writing during all this... it's so lovely to escape into a pressure-free world and just play with words.

My local indies have all been sending out messages, so I'd like to boost their refrain: this year, buy your books for gifting early! Buy them from local bookstores! Here are a few ideas:

1) Buy from Black-owned bookstores. Here's a list! If you have ever said Black Lives Matter, put your money where your mouth is this holiday season.

2) Many bookstores are offering bookseller bundles, where booksellers pick books they already have in stock just for you or a loved one, if it's a gift. Those bundles are a great way to cut down on processing time, support your local bookstore, discover new authors, and avoid decision paralysis. I bought a bundle from Loyalty Bookstore a bit ago, and I loved every single book that came in the mail.

3) Porter Square Books has supported my writing career since before I was published-- waaaaay back when I co-led a children's nonfiction book club there. They have all my books in stock right now!

And, since it's the Friday before the election as I post this... please, please remember to vote if you haven't already. Your vote matters! And, if you've already voted by mail or dropbox, remember to check and make sure your ballot was received. Here's a handy website that can help: https://trackvote.org/

Phew! That was a long post. If you've made it this far, you deserve a carrot. Here... have my journal-esque senryu of the day... hot off the presses from me to you:

first heavy snow

one more step

toward spring blossoms